This invention relates to display devices used for learning, entertainment, information, advertisement, etc.
The earth and other celestial bodies, men, animals, plants and many other objects are often displayed as spherical images on color television receivers. In weather forecasts, for example, live data sent from meteorological satellites and image-processed by computers are broadcast through televisions to show how the movement of clouds changes with time. Topographic features reproduced on the basis of live data from artificial satellites are also represented by using an image of the earth rotating about its axis.
Computer graphics representing the constellations of different seasons are also shown on color displays. Planetariums show the stars and planets in the whole sky on their dome-shaped screens.
The whole image of the earth or other spherical objects have conventionally been displayed on the flat surface of color television or other displays that cannot give a stereoscopic or floating effect.
The planetariums project constellations on concave surfaces. Being large-sized and costly, they are not suited for viewing seasonal changes in constellations on a smaller scale.